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Asa Messer Elementary School
Introduction: The Asa Messer Elementary School at Samuel W. Bridgham teaches kids from Kindergarten through 5th grade. Up until 2012 Preschool was taught there as well. The Principal is Denise Missry and Erica Dickson is the Assistant Principal. It is located on Westminster Street in Providence Rhode Island. The Asa Messer Elementary School was named after Asa Messer the former president of Brown University from 1804-1826.
School Pledge: (taken directly from website)

MANY CULTURES, ONE SCHOOL

Many cultures, one school, many students big and small,
Many cultures, one school, we're together one and all.

1. We'll make new friends and learn about each other,
We'll treat our friends like sister and like brother.
2. I have good manners, I use them every day,
I show respect in all I do and say.
3. I'm responsible for myself, I'm kind and polite;
I'll try my best to keep my goal in sight.
Many cultures, one school, many students big and small,
Many cultures, one school, we're together one and all

Students: There are over 540 students at the Asa Messer Elementary school. They have a 95% attendance rate, which shows a true desire to learn. Asa Messer Elementary has a connection with Brown University, allowing for different drama and writing clubs. The students are able to express their creativity in different ways through the Brown University clubs. Students at Asa Messer Elementary are part of a literacy and math program. Their “Balanced Literacy Program” allows them to create thinking and reasoning skills by reading books and other literary works by popular and respected authors. The “Math Investigations Program” uses games to teach students complex algebra and geometry theories as well as basic math. By using games, the students have fun learning the concepts. Also, one student each month is selected to be the student of the month, and receives a lunch in their honor and a gift.

Assessments: Students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades take the NECAP assessment. Third graders take math and reading. Fourth graders take math, reading, and science. Fifth graders take math, reading, and writing. In every category, the students fall behind the state average. Reading and writing are their strong suits, which boast the highest proficiency percentage. Math and Science are their weaknesses, with 4th grade science proficiency at a 4%. Theses NECAP results resulted in the Asa Messer Elementary School being labeled a “focus” school after the 2012-2013 school year.
NECAP results: (taken directly from the RI Infoworks website)

Year
% Proficient School
% Proficient State
Details
3rd Grade Math
2012-13
19%
60%
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3rd Grade Reading
2012-13
43%
70%
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4th Grade Math
2012-13
33%
65%
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4th Grade Reading
2012-13
26%
69%
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4th Grade Science
2012-13
4%
41%
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5th Grade Math
2012-13
28%
62%
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5th Grade Reading
2012-13
38%
72%
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5th Grade Writing
2012-13
35%
59%
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Teachers: The teacher to student ratio is 1 teacher for every 17 students. None of those teachers are considered “Not highly qualified” as opposed to 3% of the teachers in the state that are. However, none of the teachers are emergency certification, as opposed to the 1% of teachers in the state that are.

Families and Communities: Almost all of the students at Asa Messer qualify for subsidized lunch, with 95% of students receiving it. In addition, almost half of the students are receiving ESL services, with 44% of the students qualifying. Both of these percentages are over the state average. However, the number of students receiving Special Education Services is less than the state with 13% of the students needing special services. The state average is 15% of students.

Conclusion: The Asa Messer Elementary school provides lots of services for the majority of their students. In addition, it provides different after school programs. Although they have alternative learning programs in math and literacy, only the literacy program seems to have an affect as the school has low NECAP scores. As a result, the school was labeled a focus school.